This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in bowling games and, more particularly, to bowling games in which bowling pin elements are hingedly mounted on a bowling alley and can be shifted from a first upstanding position to a second flat position relatively co-planar with the bowling alley when contacted by a playing piece.
Children's bowling games have long been popular and commercially acceptable among school-aged and older children. These bowling games usually adopt various different forms of construction. In the first of these bowling games, the bowling pins are suspended along one or more guy wires, or similar supporting member, extending transversely across a bowling alley in such manner that they are pivotally supported in slightly spaced relationship to a bowling alley which receives a rolling ball. Consequently, when the ball contacts any of the bowling pins suspended on the guy wire or similar supporting member, the bowling pins will pivot on the wire in order to visually depict the score of the player. This form of bowling game is somewhat deficient in that the children recognize that it does not conform to the principles of operation of the true game of bowling.
Another form of children's bowling game employs a construction where each bowling pin is suspended on an individual guy wire. The guy wire is biased upwardly but restrained against upward movement by an interlock. When the bowling pin is contacted by a bowling ball, the interlock is released and the guy wire is raised in such manner that the bowling pin is pulled upwardly. The major deficiency with this form of bowling game is that the various guy wires tend to become entangled. Due to these various problems, preschool children have tended to lack interest in toy bowling games, and consequently the preschool bowling game market was relatively unsuccessful.
In order to overcome these deficiencies, there have been several forms of bowling games where the bowling pins are freely located and manually set upon the alley in the desired location and pattern. While these latter forms of bowling games adopt a more realistic resemblance to the true game of bowling, they are also deficient in the ease and efficiency in which the game may be played. In this latter form of game, the players must engage in the time consuming procedure of setting the bowling pins on an alley in a prescribed location. In this case, the bowling alley may be provided with indicia in order to provide indication of the desired location of each particular bowling pin. This activity is not only time-consuming and cumbersome, but actually militates against the acceptance of the game.
The present invention obviates these and other problems in the provision of a bowling game in which the bowling pins in the form of upstanding elements are hingedly mounted on the bowling alley in an upstanding or first position, and can be shifted to a second position when engaged by a playing piece, such as a ball representative of a bowling ball. Moreover, when the bowling pins are knocked to the second or down position, they can be easily re-shifted to the first position by means of actuating a simple, manually operable actuating member. A recess is located behind each pin so that the bowling pin can shift to and be located in the recesses in the second position. In this way, the upper surface of the pins become co-planar with the surface of the bowling alley in order to prevent interference with a second roll of the ball. Moreover, some of the bowling pins are coupled to other of the bowling pins in such manner that the first of these mentioned bowling pins will automatically shift to the second of the positions when the other bowling pins are contacted by the bowling ball. Consequently, the player of the game can achieve an automatic strike by properly locating the ball with respect to the bowling pins.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a toy bowling game which can be played in such manner that it approximates the actual game of bowling.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy bowling game of the type stated which is highly durable in its construction and can withstand the abuse normally subjected thereto by pre-school children.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toy bowling game of the type stated in which the bowling pins can be automatically shifted from the "down" position to the upstanding position by means of simple mechanical actuation of a lever associated with the bowling alley.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a toy bowling game of the type stated which is relatively simple in its construction and involves a unique linkage mechanism in order to properly locate and shift each of the bowling pins after the number of desired rolls of a playing piece representative of a bowling ball.
It is another salient object of the present invention to provide a method of playing a toy bowling game which approximates that of the normal game of bowling.
With the above and other objects in view, our invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.